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Donors Pledge High for Somalia

Funds Slated to Help Weak Government Spread Rule of Law

BRUSSELS -- International donors led by the European Union pledged over $250 million Thursday to Somalia to pay for law enforcement, humanitarian aid and possibly a coast guard.

The aid effort is an attempt to help rein in the anarchy that has allowed gangs of pirates to prey on commercial freighters in the Gulf of Aden. Somalia hasn't had an effective central government since 1991.

The amount promised was $90 million more than expected, an indication of the rising profile of the pirates, who have hijacked over 150 ships in the past two years, garnering close to $100 million in ransom payments and forcing freighters to pay higher insurance rates or even avoid the Gulf of Aden. Commercial freighters transiting between Asia and Europe via the Suez Canal must cross the Gulf.

Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed made a rare international appearance at the conference. Mr. Ahmed enjoys support from the West but has little control over the vast Somali countryside, where tribal militias still hold sway.

His goal now is to build up armed forces to take back the rest of the country from militant groups.

In a reminder to donors of Somalia's instability, Mr. Ahmed's political rival, hard-line Islamist opposition leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys arrived in the capital, Mogadishu, for the first time in two years Thursday.

The U.S. and United Nations Security Council have designated Mr. Aweys a terrorist. He has rejected allegations that he has ties to al Qaeda and the Islamist militias fighting the Somali government.

Officially, the donors' conference in Brussels focused on how to impose order to the country of 10 million people, in which over three million now require food aid, almost twice as many as a year ago. Delegates agreed to increase humanitarian assistance.

But informally, piracy and its causes were the primary issues, according to delegates who attended the meeting. They agreed they must help Mr. Ahmed's government reintroduce the rule of law into the coastal towns that have become ground bases for pirates. "Piracy is a symptom of anarchy and insecurity on the ground," said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Officials didn't break down how the money will be spent. They said the funding will allow the African Union to expand its peacekeeping force in the country to 8,000 from 4,350. Though insufficient on their own, the African Union forces are the country's main guarantor of security. More importantly, the money will help Somalia build up his police force to 16,000 men, said EU officials.

Mr. Ahmed called on donors to help Somalia establish a coast guard to police pirates. "The restoration of peace and stability to Somalia is the only way to solve these problems," he said.